“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”  (Luke 6:46-49, NASB)

The New Reformation Of Postevangelicalism Comes Emerging

Today we are paying the price of ignoring warnings such as the following from A.W. Tozer circa 1960. And while I don’t agree with everything Tozer taught it cannot be denied that he had a heart which broke for Christ’s Church:

The absence of spiritual devotion today is an omen and a portent. The modern church is all but contemptuous of the sober virtues– meekness, modesty, humility, quietness, obedience, self effacement, patience. To be accepted now, religion must be in the popular mood. Consequently, much religious activity reeks with pride, display, self-assertion, self-promotion, love of gain and devotion to trivial pleasures.

It behooves us to take all this seriously. Time is running out for all of us. What is done must be done quickly. We have no right to lie idly by and let things take their course. A farmer who neglects his farm will soon lose it; a shepherd who fails to look after his flock will find the wolves looking after it for him. A misbegotten charity that allows the wolves to destroy the flock is not charity at all but indifference, rather, and should be known for what it is and dealt with accordingly. (We Travel an Appointed Way, 50-51.)

Sadly, the truth is that we ended up just sitting by and watching the birth of the semi-pelagian i.e. man-centered Church Growth Movement; which coming out of Fuller Seminary in its various forms ala Rick Warren for the adults or Rob Bell for the younger set, has a core value in its self-centered neo-orthodox view (at best) view of Scripture and has been the very embodiment of the above. The bottom line the CGM has produced a gospel of the flesh and a lowering of the standards concerning what genuine Christian commitment to God as a regenerated believer in Christ truly is.

No doubt it’s already a doomed process because 1) it’s appeal to human emotion has produced so many unregenerate “Christ-followers” now attempting to live a spiritual life in the natural; and 2) in trying to market the Church to a given culture the “gospel” of the CGM must be in a continual state of change as they attempt in vain to guess the right methods to use in order to try and make the God-centered message of the Christian faith attractive to self-centered and fickle human beings.

For example today there appears to be the initial rumblings of coming change within the postliberal cult of the Emergent Church over how to get their inclusive message of quasi-universalism across to our allegedly postmodern society. And much of the wrong mindset for building the Church of Jesus Christ can be traced back to the “new reformation” of Christianity-Lite fathered by Robert Schuller. For a more in-depth look at that I refer you to Robert Schuller: Father of the New Reformation.

For our purposes here in this overview I remind you that in his book Self Esteem: The New Reformation Robert Schuller, as the grandfather of the CGM, makes the ludicrous comment: “Classical theology has erred in its insistence that theology be ‘God-centered,’ not man-centered.’ ” Tragically through this foolish book being used in seminaries in a positive light throughout the ’80s he has indeed been a major puppet through whom the Devil has brought this to pass in today’s postevangelicalism.

Building Churches On The Foundation Of “Burger King” Spirituality

The Body of Christ is now littered with unregenerate pastors posing as orthodox ministers of Jesus Christ dispensing their doctrines of demons, which has unfortunately considerably slowed the spread of His Gospel. But this piece ought to give you a good idea why corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism advanced through so-called Spiritual Formation as promulgated by Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster—along with his spiritual twin Dallas Willard—was such a perfect fit in this new reformation of the love of man.

And the theology of love of the self (see—2 Timothy 3:2) which underlies e.g. the Emergent Church movement has no intention whatsoever to preach the true Gospel of the penal substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. Rather this Emerging rebellion against Sola Scriptura was the Trojan Horse which Satan used to unload his centered on the self CSM within the walls of evangelicalism and was always bent on reemerging as a post-modern theology i.e. a reimagined postliberal version of what the late Dr. Walter Martin once labeled “the Cult of Liberal Theology.”

So far men like Emergent Guru Brian McLaren, one of the leading spokesmen of this postliberal cult, have written much about the need to be “missional” and to bring “the kingdom of God” to people. Watch out for those terms because, just as Dr. Martin would tell you if he were still among us, theologians in the Emerging Church movement have emptied out the original meaning about what the Church has always taught concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have actually replaced it with a repainted version of the old Social Gospel of liberal theology.

Men and women, what’s been happening—particularly now that Robert Schuller’s “New Reformation” has taken its satanic root within mainstream evangelicalism—is that the Christian Church in America, in a wonderful impression of the frog in the kettle, hasn’t noticed that it is in fact being “boiled” to death in aberrant and heretical doctrine. O so slowly small “adjustments” have continually been made to lower the standards of the genuine Christian faith with its difficult message of self-denial preached by the Christ of Biblical revelation in favor of the seeker sensitive personal “Jesus” with his New Reformation “gospel” of fulfillent of the self.

Have no fear because this sinner-sensitive Ecumenical Church of Deceit has a little something for everybody in it’s “Have It Your Way” Burger King spirituality. Want more “success” in business and in bed or exciting self-fulfillment; there’s the changed life Jesus of the church planting movement or it’s emerging repaint via Erwin McManus. Concerned about the “global problems” facing mankind today; there’s the social reformer Jesus of mystical musing ala Emerging Church Pastor Doug Pagitt or the “counter-culture” new monasticism of Shane Claiborne. Need an excuse to feel better in your greed; there’s the spiritual genie Jesus of America’s smiling pastor Joel Osteen. 

And so complete has this New Reformation been within the Body of Christ that even mainstream evangelical Protestants are now actually working diligently to place themselves back under the bondage of apostate Roman Catholicism! One wonders if people who claim to be Christian could possibly be any more spiritually obtuse. As succinctly as I can put it: Five hundred years ago Reformers working within the mendacious Roman Catholic Church are finally led by God the Holy Spirit to break away from the corruptions and man-made traditions of Papal Rome. Meanwhile the Church of Rome very deliberately studies her doctrine for some eighteen years and then fully elaborates on her dogma in the Council of Trent.

However, here’s where we are right now in evangelicalism; since not one single core doctrine which led to the Protestant Reformation has been altered an iota, apparently the Lord has now changed His mind and decided the ecumenical time has now arrived for so-called “separated brethren” to return back home to Rome. But let’s see if we can think this through: A) the Spirit of Christ raises up Reformers to break away from corrupt Roman Catholicism and to return His Church to Biblical principles; plus B) the apostate Church of Rome has not changed at all since that time; supposedly equals C) the unchanging God of the Bible now apparently wants His Church back under the rule of the exact same corrupt Roman Catholic Church. And in Has the Roman Catholic Church Really Changed? you’ll see from her own sources that she has not.

Wanted: Men Of God Who Will Build Churches God’s Way

I would certainly hope that by now you’re able to follow that it just doesn’t add up. But all of this really is the logical conclusion as to where these lower standards of seeker sensitive effeminate Christianity, promulgated as they are by what Dr. R. A. Torrey once aptly called “women in men’s trousers,” would have had to lead all those who follow them. If this lily-livered approach to the glorious Christian faith had actually been the methodology employed by Christ’s Apostles—gallant men who gave their lives to proclaim the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in a society of religious pluralism—the true Gospel message would most likely have been lost in myths and in the circular reasoning of Greek philosophers. Ah, wait a minute; on second thought, it would appear this is exactly what is happening in ever increasing sections of the Church in America right now!

However, as we turn to the Bible we see that the Lord has given very specific commands to his true ministers, and even a cursory look at the historic record will show—we do thank God—that there were no purpose driven Rick Warrenites, nor were there any Brian McLarens with their emergent “gospel” of inclusivism among leaders sent by Jesus. One need only look at Acts 4 where the Jewish religious leaders of that day — were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. The absolute truth is that no matter what a given society’s views regarding God may be—though they are free to have them—it’s still Christ’s command that His pastor-teachers — must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it (Titus 1:9).

Unfortunately today the Church is simply not willing to refute those who oppose sound doctrine; and instead has become more like Peter was initially in Mark 8:33, which led to a most startling rebuke from our Lord, Who clearly told His disciple that he actually held a view originating from Satan — “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (see also—Matthew 16:23). In fact this comment from respected evangelical scholar Dr. D.A. Carson will prove enlightening to those who have ears to hear:

Jesus’ words to Peter were not only very severe, they were deliberately spoken in the presence of the other disciples (”Jesus turned and looked at his disciples”). They probably shared Peter’s views and needed the rebuke, too. The severity of the rebuke arises from Jesus’ recognition in Peter’s attempt to dissuade him from going to the Cross the same temptation he had experienced from Satan at the outset of his ministry.

Satan offered him the option of using the world’s means of accomplishing his mission (cf. Matt 4:8-10). On that occasion Jesus rebuked him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Matt 4:10). Here, too, Jesus recognized the satanic opposition in Peter. “‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. `You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” Peter was opposing the divine will. He had in mind a popular messiahship. That was the way the world thought; it was not how God had planned Jesus’ ministry and mission (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Matthew, CD Rom, emphasis added).

So you see, it’s not as if we haven’t had the chance to listen to the Spirit’s subtle warnings. God has told us not to think like men and then try to preach the Gospel the way men think it should be preached in this biblically foreign mission field of fading America. For those who have eyes to see, it really is right there in the text of Scripture, and even our own Bible scholars have said it—though apparently they haven’t realized God the Holy Spirit is using them to speak. Or is it only in a bored indifference with a false humility that we pray: “Lord use me as Your vessel.” And I do wish the reader to know I fully understand there are many who ignore my warnings and consider me of no reputation; but still I offer it might not be wise to so easily dismiss what I say.

O without a doubt the accepted way of writing today is to do a kind of “plus-minus” assessment of a given subject; but I wonder, have we really considered all this from the Lord’s perspective or is this rather the things of men in secular academia? In closing this for now, suppose I were to write an article about cancer; would I really need to spend time elaborating on some of the more “positive” aspects of this terminal disease, like say, how suddenly it can metastasize and just how completely it kills a body? And if you happen to be a pastor caught up in this New Reformation it really is as my friend and Christian apologist Chris Rosebrough of Pirate Christian Radio has said: “Relevance is a fickle lover. She’ll make you feel like a king one day and yesterday’s garbage the next.”

Just a little something for you to contemplate… The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested Him by asking Him to show them a sign from Heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away. (Matthew 16:1-4)